Actualités Défense

The Republic of China Navy has taken delivery of what could be the first of a new class of stealth corvettes, according to local press reports. The locally built 500-ton Tuo Jiang was delivered to the Taiwanese Navy from shipbuilder Lung Teh Shipbuilding at the harbor of Su-ao in a Tuesday ceremony. “With the completion …

"Today, I am pleased to announce that three days ago, we added an important component to our defensive force. We purchased four new Saar vessels from Germany," Netanyahu said, using the Hebrew word for patrol.

Speaking at a Dec. 25 Israel Air Force ceremony, Netanyahu credited German Chancellor Angela Merkel for the bilateral cooperation manifest in the latest deal for the four offshore patrol vessels (OPVs) and Israel's ongoing program for German-built Dolphin-class submarines.

"I would like to thank German Chancellor Angela Merkel for her commitment and constant assistance to our security," he said.

Officials from the Prime Minister's office and the Defense Ministry were unavailable to provide details of the announced OSP deal or the extent to which Berlin may be funding the program.

For more than two years, Israeli officials had been trying to secure German commitment to share some of the costs of the estimated 2.3 billion shekel program.

Israel plans to use the four OPVs by Thyssen-Krupp Marine Systems (TKMS) in defense of offshore energy sites and other strategic assets. The ships, loosely-customized versions of the Meko A-100, are built by the same consortium contracted for Israel's six Dolphin-class submarines fleet.

In four separate agreements going back decades, Germany agreed to fully fund the first two submarines, split costs of the third, and underwrite the last three submarines by about 30 percent. The INS Rahav, Israel's fifth submarine, is expected to arrive here in the first months of the coming year. A sixth submarine is under construction and is expected to be deployed by the end of 2017.

The Brazilian Navy is restarting the refurbishment of eight C1/S2 carrier based transport aircraft. If everything goes according to plan, four ex-US Navy C-1A Trader aircraft that have rested for 26 years in the aircraft boneyard in Arizona will return to sea, operating from the deck of Brazil’s aircraft carrier São Paulo.

Over a thousand C1/S2 aircraft were produced by Grumman between 1952 and served on board US Navy Carriers for three decades, from the mid 50s through the 1980s. A total of 83 C-1A models were produced, used as the Navy’s Carrier On-Board Delivery (COD) aircraft. In 1988 the Traders were retired and sent to the Davis Monthan Boneyard outside Tucson, Arizona. Unlike the US and French Navies, that operate the E-2C/D Hawkeye and C-2 Greyhound from larger aircraft carriers, the Brazilian Navy’s only aircraft carrier NAe São Paulo is constrained in catapult strength and deck size, limiting their choice of aircraft to the smaller, lighter Tracker/Trader.

Among the last fleets to operate the S-2, the Brazilians turned to Arizona based Marsh Aviation of Mesa Arizona to modernize the eight aircraft retrieved from the nearby boneyard. Marsh had experience in such refurbishing jobs, as the company refurbished 26 ex-Navy tankers into S-2T aerial firefighters for the California Department of Forestry and Fire protection (CDF). Israel Aerospace Industries(IAI) performed a similar job in the 1990s, replacing the piston-engined Trackers operated by the Argentinian Navy with turboprops.

The Brazilians opted to refurbish the Trader carrier transport variants, from aircraft they selected at the boneyards. Originally the Brazilian Navy was planning to convert eight aircraft – four into S-2T Airborne Early Warning configuration, at present, four C-1As are to be converted into Turbo Traders, re-designated KC-2 COD/AAR (Carrier-On-Board/ Air-to-Air Refueling). They will be used as COD and aerial refueling aircraft on board the Brazilian Navy’s aircraft carrier, the NAe São Paulo.

As with the S-2T, the original rotary piston engines will be replaced Honeywell TPE-331 turbo-prop engines, the KC-2 will also get a modern Glass Cockpit, new communication systems, Environmental Control Systems (ECS), as well as integration of air to air refueling capabilities.

Originally signed four years ago, in October 2011, the upgrade was delayed due legal difficulties encountered by Marsh. Last month, the Brazilian navy’s directorate of aeronautics and Marsh Aviation revived the program, with the introduction of M7 Aviation, of San Antonio, Texas, as a subcontractor and facilitator.

While the eight airframes were bought at a ‘bargain’ price of $32,000 each, the entire refurbishment, re-engining and upgrading program would cost $167 million, according to the original contract awarded to Marsh back in 2011. M7 would receive $106 million for its part in the five-year project. The upgrade work will be performed in San Antonio, Texas, at the facilities of M7 Aerospace, an Elbit Systems of America subsidiary, under the supervision of Brazilian Navy officers who are currently deployed to San Antonio.

Originally scheduled for delivery by 2015, the first KC-2 prototype flight is expected for November 2017 and the delivery of the first operational aircraft to the Brazilian Navy is scheduled for December 2018. The aircraft will be operated by the 1st Transport and Early Warning Squadron (VEC-1) based in the Sao Pedro d’Aldeia Naval Air Station.

In life, Tulare native Elmo "Bud" Zumwalt led a distinctive, storied career that included being the youngest-ever chief of U.S. Naval Operations and the architect of Navy personnel policies that eased racial tensions in the service.

Though he died in January 2000, Zumwalt's name took a step closer this year to becoming immortalized in a new way by the Navy.

The first of a new class of navy destroyers bearing his name was christened in April at the General Dynamics Bath Iron Works in Bath, Maine. Five months earlier, the future "USS Zumwalt," was put in the water for the first time for the final phases of construction.

"Basically, the ship is 92 percent complete," said Chris Johnson, a spokesman for the Naval Sea Systems Command in Washington, D.C. "It's in the water. It looks like a ship."

But it doesn't look like any ship before it. The Zumwalt is the first of a new class of destroyers that will be designated "Zumwalt-class" ships.

They're about 100 feet longer than the Navy's current destroyers and operate on an electrical propulsion system powered by specially-formulated jet fuels, unlike the noisier diesel-powered engines destroyers now use.

In addition, they'll operate with about 100 fewer crew members than current destroyers because of the numerous automated systems installed that will include automatic fire-suppression equipment and automatic cannon loaders.

Then new ships also look a lot different from existing destroyers, as the Zumwalt will have very little deck area, so most of most of the crew will work and live in enclosed areas, much like sailors of submarines, Johnson said.

The body changes will help give the ships a "stealth capability" to avoid detection by enemy ships, along with a new radar system that other ships will have a tough time tracking back the source of a radar "ping," he said.

At an estimated cost of $3.1 million apiece, the first Zumwalt-class ship is expected to undergo seat testing some time next year with plans to be put into service in 2016, while two other ships are under construction.

A naturalized American citizen working for the US Navy was arrested Friday for attempting to sell technical information about the nuclear aircraft carrier Gerald R. Ford to an agent of the Egyptian government.

Defence has since 2007 studied Norway’s future submarine capability. Several options have been looked at in the process. The Government has now decided that the project will enter a definition phase and evaluate an acquisition of new submarines to replace the existing Ula class when it becomes obsolete.

Norway’s six Ula class submarines were commissioned between 1989 and 1992, designed for a service life of thirty years. These submarines will be phased out in the 2020s. In addition to aging, technological advances make the Ula-class, which is based on design and technology from the 1980s, insufficient to meet future, high-tech threats.

Norway’s future submarine capability has been studied since 2007. The studies have been conducted in two phases, both with thorough external quality reviews before being presented. The Norwegian Government has now taken a conceptual decision on future submarine capability.

“Submarines are a vital capability in the Norwegian Armed Forces, and have a major impact on our overall defence capability. Together with combat aircraft and Special Operations Forces, submarines are among the armed forces’ most important capabilities. Hence, it is important that we now have established that the acquisition of new submarines will form the basis for further project work. This decision makes it possible for us to maintain a credible submarine capability,” says Minister of Defence Ine Eriksen Søreide.

The current Ula Class submarines will be 35 years old when they are replaced. They are originally built for 30 years of service. However, the Ula-class must be kept operational for additionally five years in order to maintain a continuous submarine capability until a replacement is operational. Studies show that it would have been very costly and impractical to extend the service life beyond this.

“The ability to operate covertly, which is vital for the submarine’s relevance, will be significantly better for a new submarine than what is achievable through service life extension of the current fleet. This is due to lower acoustic signatures and a better hydrodynamic design,” says Eriksen Søreide.

It is a substantial task that awaits the project organisation. Part of the work will be to evaluate potential cooperation with other countries in terms of procurement, training and maintenance. A partnership can contribute to economies of scale and a robust solution throughout the life of the submarines.

The decision only entails that the project moves into a new phase, the project definition phase. No investment decisions have so far been taken. By the end of 2016, a recommendation on the future submarine capability will be presented. Thereafter, pending the Governments decision, an investment proposal will be presented to Parliament. This will enable the delivery of new submarines to the Norwegian Navy starting from the mid 2020′s.

The total investment cost of this project depends on the number of submarines and the weapons inventory.

“I emphasize that we have not decided the final level of ambition for this project or the number of submarines. This is something I will give my recommendation on when the project is presented in 2016,” says the Minister of Defence.

Brazil has chosen the MBDA Sea Ceptor shipborne local area air-defence system to equip the Brazilian Navy's new Tamandaré-class corvettes, it was announced on 28 November.

Brazil is planning to build four of the 2,400-tonne Tamandaré-class corvettes (formerly known as the CV03 project), with local shipbuilder VARD Niterói selected to draw up the preliminary design of the vessel in February.

The new corvettes are understood to be broadly based on the design of the Brazilian Navy's existing V34/Barosso-class corvettes. The Tamandaré-class is intended to be fully multirole, featuring both anti-ship and anti-air missile capabilities, a main gun and secondary armament, as well as the ability to embark a helicopter.

Afghanistan's lower house of parliament on Sunday approved agreements that will allow about 12,500 NATO-led troops to stay on next year as the national army and police struggle to hold back the Taliban.

Britain's Defence Ministry will miss the deadline to award a contract to BAE Systems to build the Royal Navy's new Type 26 frigate, according to sources, who say it could take months before the two sides are in a position to agree to a deal.

ABOARD USS NIMITZ: The first F-35C seemed to float through the air toward the slowly pitching deck of the USS Nimitz, looking as if it was hanging by a wire and heading implacably to the ship’s arresting wires. The weather was gorgeous, with the massive carrier sailing some 40 miles off the San Diego coast through small swells and under gorgeous cloud-scudded cerulean blue skies. The F-35C’s wings didn’t wobble at all on final approach as test pilot Cdr. Tony “Brick” Wilson guided her in. And on its first try the plane’s tail hook grabbed the third arresting wire — the catch most favored by Navy pilots — at 12:19 pm. When an F-18 Hornet landed minutes later, the plane’s wings twitched slightly up and down on its approach and the pilot snagged the fourth wire, second to the bottom in the Navy hierarchy of carrier landing awards. Then the second F-35C test plane came in just as steady and firm as the first. It also snagged the third wire, sending a clear message to the Navy’s aviation community that the Lockheed Martin plane not only could handle carrier landings, but could execute them with aplomb. The word historic got thrown around the deck of the Nimitz quite a bit today. “You are going to look back on this day as a very historic occasion,” the Navy’s Air Boss, Vice Adm. David Buss told ship’s company a few hours before the landings. Perhaps the best quote of the day came from a visibly pumped Brick Wilson: “Today is a landmark event in the development of the F-35C. It is the culmination of many years of hard work by a talented team of thousands. I’m very excited to see America’s newest aircraft on the flight deck of her oldest aircraft carrier, the USS Nimitz.” But the F-35C’s landings today also underscored that, while the Navy certainly doesn’t oppose the F-35C, its leadership also hasn’t shown great enthusiasm for the aircraft, especially when compared to the leadership of the Marines and the Air Force. (Note that the F-35C is not designed to replace but to fly with the F/A-18 E/F Super Hornet.) Today may well help change the opinions of some senior Navy commanders, especially if the rest of the testing proceeds as well. The Air Boss, who might be more receptive to the Joint Strike Fighter than some of his bosses, told reporters that today’s landings will be a “springboard to our future.” There was one glitch to today’s testing. The F-35C’s first catapult launches were postponed because of glitches with some of the test sensors, which were not relaying data to testers. The Nimitz tests are scheduled to continue for two weeks. It will include night landings around the last three days of testing, Buss told me on the flight deck. Until the night landings, the Nimitz crew and the F-35C pilots will “gradually expand the flight envelope,” putting the plane through its paces by forcing it to land into the wind, against the wind and to take off using all of the ship’s four catapults, he said. A Navy officer familiar with the program told reporters it will probably take four months to go through the enormous data that flows from these tests. This batch of testing is called DT-1. It will be followed by DT-2 at the end of next summer and DT-3 in the spring of 2016. You’ll get more F-35C testing coverage after the Tuesday elections.